Terve from Finland

Hey everybody! While it seems like everyone is off in different corners of the globe at the moment, I was also fortunate enough to travel this summer. I'm currently in Ivalo, Finland and I've spent the last 8 weeks in northern Sweden and Finland on a Williams Summer Fellowship. I've had a weird obsession with Sweden since I was a little kid, so living here for part of the summer has sort of been a dream come true. 

My project has focused on how the tourism industry is being used as a tool for identity creation and cultural preservation by the indigenous Sami community of northern Scandinavia, as well as the slew of ethical problems that come with this mass tourism. This has mainly meant meeting with and talking to many Sami tourism entrepreneurs and educators about their work and opinions, but I've also had a lot of free time to train! 

A few pictures below to document some of what I've been up to.

Checking out the copper mines in Gällivare, Sweden.
For scale, I'm about 6'6" and I've never felt so small!

Miles of beautiful open roads way up here for rollerskiing, except for a few reindeer. 

Up close and personal. 

Took a break from the research project for a few days to explore the Swedish mountains around the northern section of the King's Trail. There's an extensive hut system so I was able to pack light and run most of the stretch from Abisko to Nikkaluokta.

Beautiful valley near Vistas cabin. There was a huge rockslide on the left side as a I ran by! 

Lunch by a glacial lake. Living off canned food in Sweden means tuna and canned meatballs.

There's been a lot of traveling from place to place and waiting on buses.
So far only a couple comments about the ski bag.

12:30 am in Jokkmokk, Sweden. A big perk of spending summer deep in the Arctic Circle is endless daylight --
great for getting in those triple training sessions.

I head home tomorrow and can't wait to get back on campus and see everyone soon. Rock the cow!